Opinicus Capital Inc. Makes New $314,000 Investment in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Opinicus Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 2,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $314,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Dollar General by 18.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,711,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,297,067,000 after acquiring an additional 3,457,393 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Dollar General by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,346,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,278,000 after buying an additional 62,913 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Dollar General by 98.1% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,106,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,884,000 after buying an additional 1,043,141 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Dollar General by 44.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,572,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $166,394,000 after buying an additional 481,881 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Dollar General by 78.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,426,318 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,904,000 after acquiring an additional 627,844 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ralph Santana sold 3,009 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.72, for a total value of $468,561.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $505,778.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Ralph Santana sold 3,009 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.72, for a total value of $468,561.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,248 shares in the company, valued at $505,778.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Carman R. Wenkoff sold 5,909 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.23, for a total transaction of $958,617.07. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,636,371.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DG traded down $0.58 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $142.07. The company had a trading volume of 1,378,667 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,915,899. Dollar General Co. has a one year low of $101.09 and a one year high of $222.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $150.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $135.46. The firm has a market cap of $31.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.79, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.42.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.09. Dollar General had a return on equity of 26.13% and a net margin of 4.29%. The firm had revenue of $9.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Dollar General Co. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th were paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 8th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. Dollar General’s payout ratio is 31.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on DG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Dollar General from $158.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Barclays upgraded shares of Dollar General from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $124.00 to $154.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price objective on shares of Dollar General in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $147.00 target price (up previously from $127.00) on shares of Dollar General in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on Dollar General from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $153.08.

Dollar General Company Profile

Dollar General Corporation, a discount retailer, provides various merchandise products in the southern, southwestern, midwestern, and eastern United States. It offers consumable products, including paper and cleaning products, such as paper towels, bath tissues, paper dinnerware, trash and storage bags, disinfectants, and laundry products; packaged food comprising cereals, pasta, canned soups, fruits and vegetables, condiments, spices, sugar, and flour; and perishables that include milk, eggs, bread, refrigerated and frozen food, beer, and wine.